Month: May 2013

Retired Hawai‘i Senator Daniel Akaka will be the grand marshal of this year's King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade, taking place Saturday, June 15 beginning at 9 a.m. in Historic Kailua Village. Accompanied by members of his Hawai‘i Island family, the senator and his wife, Millie, will be traveling down Ali‘i Drive via horse-drawn carriage. The annual floral parade will feature decorated floats, hula halau, marching bands, mounted equestrian units, and the beautiful pa‘u princesses on horseback representing the eight major islands of the Hawaiian Island chain. Leading the pa‘u units will be this year's parade pa‘u queen, Anna Akaka, the senator's daughter-in-law. Anna is married to the senator's son, Danny Akaka, Jr., who serves as director of cultural affairs for Mauna Lani Resort. The parade travels down Ali‘i Drive beginning at…

After the King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade on Saturday, June 15, enjoy a FREE concert at Courtyard King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel featuring top Hawaiian recording artist, Nathan Kawai Aweau. The only artist to earn three Hoku Hanohano "Male Vocalist of the Year" awards, Nathan has won Hoku awards for "Best Jazz Album" (Bass Etude), "Best Contemporary Hawaiian Album," and "Song of the Year" (E Apo Mai). Additionally, he was a guest artist on two Grammy-nominated projects: 2009 Slack Key Kings Vol II, and Amy Hanaiali‘i's Friends and Family, featuring one of his original songs performed as a duet. The founding member and principal vocalist for the musical supergroup Hapa for 8 years, Nathan also played bass for singer Don Ho for 16 years. This year's King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade takes…